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‘I thought you would all be stuck up!’
People with dementia educating student healthcare practitioners
through life story work.
Jane McKeown, Catherine Tattersall & Emma Yarwood
The University of Sheffield,
School of Nursing and Midwifery & Department of
Human Communication Sciences
Key Messages
• The value of life story work for developing
communications skills with student health
care practitioners
• The value of involving people with dementia
in educational programmes
• The opportunity for older people to ‘come to
University’
What is Life Story Work
• Working individually
with a person to
listen to stories
about their life.
• Memories, people,
places, hobbies,
work…
What is Life Story Work
• Negotiating if / how
the person wants to
record their life story.
• Life story books, ‘pen
picture’, memory box,
collage, photo-story
boards, web page…
Group Aims• Improve student confidence
in communicating with
people with dementia.
• Challenge negative student
myths about working with
people with dementia.
• Provide opportunities for
people with dementia to
undertake life story work.
How the Group Operates• Pre group training for students
• Meets every Weds afternoon during each
Semester at a University venue.
• Speech and Language Therapy & Nursing
Students.
• People with dementia and family carers.
• Project managed – multi-professional.
• 2 hours: 1st hour individual life story work; 2nd
hour social event.
Photograph by Emma Yarwood
Photograph by Emma Yarwood
Photographs by Emma Yarwood
Evaluation
• End of semester focus groups with people
with dementia & family carers and with
students
• Pre and post Dementia Attitude Scale
• Ad hoc comments / observations / reflection
People with Dementia
“Who could not enjoy coming here! They’re
talking my language –football!”
“Anybody like me whose got brain problems, it
opens it up somehow, to come and talk to people. I
certainly think it’ll help other people. It’s a relief actually to know there’s people there to listen.”
“The nearest we’ll get to Uni!”
Family Carers / Supporters“It’s bought
up nice memories we had forgotten
about and some we had
not heard about”
Family carer
“Mum is empowered when she’s here, seeing Mum having confidence;
Mum says lots more here; she has self-esteem and confidence”
Family Carer
“It’s great having somewhere meaningful to refer people
with dementia to.”3rd Sector Worker
Students
“I think one of the main benefits is that it allows the person with
dementia to be the ‘expert’, only they can recount the details of the
experiences that they have had during their life, and I think it is a
really positive experience for them to be able to talk about something
without feeling that they might not have remembered or might be
contradicted, which might happen when talking about the here and
now.”
“I feel more confident
interacting with a person with dementia”
“It helped me put my own life into perspective, as with life story work you are experiencing someone else’s life and what they have achieved through their life.”
Dementia Attitude Scale
It is rewarding to work with people living with dementia
I feel confident around people living with dementia
People living with dementia can enjoy life
I feel comfortable around people living with dementia
I admire the coping skills of people living with dementia
Considerations
• Whose story is it?
• Social element not for everyone
• Attendance
• Room space
• Funding
• Supervision
Photograph by Emma Yarwood
Thank You for Listening
Emma Yarwood: Life
story project manager
and photographer
Catherine Tattersall:
Speech and Language
Therapy Lecturer
Contact : Jane McKeown [email protected]
http://cottomcommunicationclinic.group.shef.ac.uk/dementia.html
